Water

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina featuring as a distinguished Panel member of the UN High Level Panel on Water convened in 2016

Water Agenda enjoys profound attention in the UN. Bangladesh Permanent Mission remains deeply involved in water related issues and particularly the implementation of the SDG 6.

Our Hon’ble Prime Minister was one of the 11 members of the High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) which was convened in 2016 by the UN Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank at the heads of State and Government level to provide leadership to urgently develop and implement a new global water strategy, through an integrated approach, to change the way water is used, valued and managed. The other members were the Netherlands, Tajikistan, Mexico, Mauritius, Peru, Senegal, Jordan, Hungary, South Africa and Australia. There was also an adviser from South Korea.

The HLPW report entitled “Making Every Drop Count: An Agenda for Water Action” and main recommendations were presented in March 2018. The International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” was launched and the GA resolution on Mid Term Review of the Decade was negotiated in 2018. Bangladesh Permanent Mission actively participated in these activities. The Mission strongly pursued among member states that the recommendations of the HLPW Outcome Report can be the foundation for taking urgent actions by the Governments and other stakeholders to implement the SDG 6. The recommendations indicate how intrinsically linked the SDGs are to one another, and the key role SDG 6 plays in achieving many other SDGs that rely on the development and management of water resources.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina briefs journalists following a meeting of the High-Level Panel on Water on 21 September 2016 at the United Nations, New York

As per the recommendation of the HLPW, Bangladesh delegation along with other HLPW members pursued the issue of holding a UN Conference on Water/SDG 6 in the resolution on Midterm Review of the Water Decade. It has been decided that a High- Level Conference on SDG 6 would be held in 2021 and the Midterm Review of the Water Decade would be held in 2023.